Sylva dissociates self from N1b Abuja property

former Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Slyva yesterday dissociated himself from the ownership of two buildings valued at over N1 billion in Abuja.

Sylva said he knows nothing about the buildings in question.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was at the weekend quoted in some reports as having traced the buildings to the former governor.

In a statement by his media aide, Mr. Doife Ola, titled ‘N1 billion hoax’, Slyva said he read about the building for the first time on Saturday.

He described as improper, what he called his media trial by the EFCC.

Sylva has been accused of fraud and money laundering by the anti-graft agency.

The statement reads: “It is with huge interest that Sylva read a few newspaper reports at the weekend about the EFCC’s investigation into his tenure as governor of Bayelsa State.

“According to the reports, the anti-corruption agency has found two buildings in Abuja valued at over N1 billion belonging to the former governor.

“Sylva dissociates himself from the said buildings. He knows nothing about them. In fact, he is reading about the ownership of the said buildings for the first time.

“Since the EFCC is already in court with Sylva over charges of fraud and money laundering, subjecting him to a media trial is improper. It does not serve the ends of justice. It is an exercise in political persecution.

“This is not the first time Sylva is being tried in the media. In March, 2010, newspapers relying on a so-called EFCC interim report linked him to a fraud of over N100 billion in Bayelsa State. The story then was that, in 2009, he transferred over 40 million US Dollars to an offshore account. Till date, no one has come forward to provide the details of the foreign account, nor has he been charged on that score.

“Sylva is clear that under the Nigerian laws, he remains innocent of all the charges against him until all the evidence has been tested in a court of competent jurisdiction.”